The organization and separation of materials and elements in landscape addresses four primary goals. First, such organization and segregation decreases the time required for care-taking and lawn maintenance. Second, segregation provides a degree of control over invasive material such as unwanted grasses, weeds, plants, and/or other undesirable debris typically found in a landscape. Third, segregation of materials provides an aesthetically pleasing appearance to the terrain, giving landscapers a good feel for design as well as for ensuring the integrity of their design against natural forces. Fourth, ease of installment with limited obstruction during regular maintenance. An ideal barrier or restraint can perform all four of those functions equally well. Currently available products fail to adequately perform at least one, if not more, of these functions.
One known landscaping device includes an elongated strip with a body having two extensions therefrom. The first extension provides stability for the device in the ground, and the second extension protrudes at a right angle from the body to catch debris. The problem is that a device with a large L-shaped member does not provide a true barrier for invasive material. Further, as the exposed surface of the L-shaped member is large, the device can be easily seen from any angle, producing an unsightly appearance. Since the surface member is oriented 90 degrees with respect to the ground member, twigs, leaves and other debris will easily be trapped and thus must be manually removed from the barrier, increasing the time and expense necessary for care-taking. Accordingly, this barrier fails to accomplish any of the four primary goals particularly well.
Another known landscaping device type is somewhat more effective at segregating materials, but is quite unsightly and doesn't reduce care-taking costs. This device is essentially a cylinder or tube that may be connected to the ground. The tube has a pronounced appearance in the field of view. The purpose of this landscape divider is to prevent the mixing of materials, but it does so in a way that is visually jarring. Since aesthetic appeal of a landscape depends upon maintaining segregation of material in an inconspicuous way, a large unsightly tube protruding out of the ground and running across the landscape is counterproductive. While the tube may be effective in segregating materials, it in and of itself detracts from the aesthetic of the landscape. Additionally the protrusion of the tube from the surface of the landscape can create an artificial hazard during regular lawn maintenance. Lawnmower blades may damage portions of a raised barrier, ejecting any damaged pieces through the discharge chute. This potential hazard creates an unsafe environment and can require regular replacement of the damaged barriers. Thus, such a barrier is inherently problematic, due in part to its aesthetic intrusion potentially creating an unintentional hazard defeating the intended purpose of the barrier.
A landscape barrier should provide the most effective barrier to prevent mixing of the materials in the least obtrusive manner. For example, a concrete wall can be erected between a grassy terrain, and a bed of mulch. The wall prevents the mulch from mixing with the grass, and prevents the grass from growing into the mulch bed, but does so in an obtrusive and unsightly manner. The aesthetic appearance of a landscape is maximized when the barrier providing material division is unobtrusive.
What is needed is a barrier that decreases the time spent for care-taking, eliminates the need for a lawn edger, provides a significant degree of invasive material control and provides an aesthetically pleasing appearance to the terrain while limiting any potential hazard during the course of routine maintenance. The present invention addresses these needs.